Danteverse

A Mixtape by Dante

00:00

The Introduction – A Mixtape by Dante –
A scrumpdiddlyumptious dirty dozen fresh out the oven way too hot for touching!
Available Now!
Visit danteverse.hiphop to stream/download for free!
I guarantee you’ve never heard a mixtape like this.

About

An audible autobiography.

Back when I was in school, I was a part of my local competitive drumline. At one competition, I had the opportunity to see one of the top groups perform, one of the best in the world. I was blown away by the precision, passion and sheer visceral force. I had never seen anything like it. I knew then and there that that was what I wanted to do. One day, I would be a part of that group. Every year after that, a close friend of mine and I would drive up to their auditions hoping to make it. We had made it our tradition to play the song “Watermelon Man” the whole way there as our hype song. After many years of auditioning, trying and failing, one year I had finally made it. I was fortunate enough to spend four years competing with this ensemble, working alongside others I would learn to call my brothers and sisters as we strived to master our craft, performing at the highest level. When it came time to part ways, I wasn’t ready to give it up (there was an age limit).

During my time there, I was fortunate enough to grow close to one of the founders of the organization. An incredibly talented musician and composer whose approach to music was unlike that of anyone I had ever met. I told him I was working on a new project, a new chapter and asked if he would be willing to help me out. Give me one last challenge.

“Yo, I’m working on a mixtape, can you write me a lick?”
“Sure.”

*Sends track

“Oh! I’m feeling the funky-ness… groovy-ness”
“I knew you were the guy for the job”
“Are you ready for some quad f***kery?”
“Absolutely”
“4 course with palette cleansers and shots in between”
…

I often think back to that first competition, standing there in awe.
I’m reminded that anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

–

The Introduction – Dante

The Introduction

Released on: 05/26/2024

Written by Dante
Q-Lick composed by L.W.T.M.P, performed by Dante
Recording Engineer: Pedro Reyes

Instrumental: Watermelon Man – Herbie Hancock

Listen on YouTube
Follow on Instagram: @yeah_that_dante

Lyrics

Hi! My name’s Dante, and I like to rap
I’m a class act, matter of fact
I can do this and this and that
With an element of perfection
I been kicking it back reflecting
‘Bout them good ol’ days
See I was born and raised
In May of ’98 in Cape Coral
And shaped by great morals
By my momma Robyn like
Moderation, good relations and dedication
Thanks Ma! Now I get to live life like
Every day is a celebration

Thanks for making… well, me!
A once in a lifetime opportunity
Pulled straight out the depths of infinity
Now I’m repping that flow like fluidity
I’m the baddest mother fucker that’ll ever be
Locked in a state of lucidity
This might be news to you
But this ain’t new to me
First release date, still got nudity
Leaving a 25% gratuity, true indeed
There ain’t nothing you can do to me
I got immunity
I’m just making music, see

It’s intentional, all this absurdity
These are just words to me
Please do not murder me
If you ain’t heard of me
I bring the 3rd degree
Burn em CD-struction eruption
In conjunction with syllable deconstruction

I got it! I’ll make the introduction
Serve the function of an introduction
Serve ’em fuck shit for their consumption
On “The Introduction” as my introduction
Wouldn’t that be something?
A scrumpdiddlyumptious dirty dozen
Fresh out the oven, way too hot for touching
But I’m keeping it cool, calm and collected
When I rush in with the lyrical percussion
Voluptuous, the one I’m loving
Fuck what ever your assumption is
It is presumptuous, keep the hate coming
I can’t get enough of it

A masochist since a young age
Mastering tricks at Eagle Skatepark’s
Where I learned the grind is worth the pain
I earned my crown
Supra’s more than just a brand name
They closed the factory, we screaming
“That’s a damn shame!”
Shit, they even had Lil Wayne
“Blunt Blowin” blaring
Staring out the window pane
I got lifted before I lit fires
Popping ollies are to blame
I spit fire, I ain’t talking polyurethane

Triple flame I got the gasoline
This shit’s a masterpiece
You need an oil change, like actually
Check yo dipstick, dipshit
You low on liquids, I can see your shit drip
Like a thick bitch with big tits
Doing switch flips on a RipStik
It’s McTwisted
In an instant I’ll shift it from
Kickflips to stick tricks
This shit’s ignorant
‘Bout time someone went and did it different
I’m sick of the simplistic
I roll with the triplets
Those lacking rhythmic configurement
Need to implement it
Peep the polarization of my oscillations
Slaying 2-4’s with 2×4’s
Changing the conversation
I’m postulating the utilization
Of variation in implementation
May make change in
The wavelength of a vibration
They ain’t even speaking my language
They don’t even know what I’m saying
You know what I’m sayin’?
I’m sayin’ that there ain’t a single way
They could explain it
No! They rather confused
My raps are infused with ratamacues
That leave you rat-a-tat-tat
Tapping your shoes
That’s how we didgeridoo

Thank you for tuning in
You are now listening to
Satellite 52.6 radio
“The Pineapple Man’s Jam”
You are my sunshine
And I am what I am
That is three yams, no sweet potato
We got a very special guest
Joining us on the show today
The big man himself, Dante!
Thanks for coming on by the studio

Thanks for having me
The pleasure’s all mine!

Well, while we got you live on the air
Is there anything you want to
Tell the people about yourself?

Well…
I learned from the surfers
Rehearsed with the circus
I was 9′ tall as I walked this earth
Just ask McGurk, cuz
I’m David and Goliath
The highest, the mightiest
Moko Jumbie, whatchu know about
That train ride that cause a riot?
That’s one small step for man
One giant leap for mankind
Jump my gun I’m serving up whoop-ass
Like it’s the canned drive

Swinging punchlines on the playground?
I’mma beat you by a land slide
You pull your punches
I’m the bomb, I land mine
Kneel before the king
This land’s mine, and I’m
Certain there isn’t a person on earth
That can tell me that I didn’t earn this
Like my scholarships
I did that college shit
To build them rocketships
Just add that to my resumé and polish it
My vision? Macroscopic, I want all of it
And I’m here to commandeer it
Y’all better fear when the young engineer
Shifting gears cause I’m thinking that
I might just be the rookie of the year
Let it ride…

About

Back in my mattress slinging days, I had a few coworkers I would kick freestyles with when it was slow. One day, one of them introduced me to Mos Def with his song “Mathematics”.

“You’ll like this guy! You kinda rap like him, the way you’ll break it down to the atom and talk about the science behind things.”

When I decided to make this tape, I thought it would be cool to include this beat. I didn’t find out until after I wrote the song that Mos Def’s name at birth was Dante.

The universe has a funny way of letting you know when you’re on the right track.

–

These MCs – Dante

The Introduction

Released on: 05/26/2024

Written by Dante
Recording Engineer: Pedro Reyes

Instrumental: Mathematics – Mos Def

Listen on YouTube
Listen on SoundCloud
Follow on Instagram: @yeah_that_dante

Lyrics

You want a piece of this shit?
Alright! I’ll get crazy like a mutha fucka!
I’ll get mutha fuckin’ up in your ass bitch!
Yea!
I’mma fucking smack your ass cheeks
Like I would my fucking baby!
So open that door
I said knock, knock, knock
Or I’ll come in and
Knock you the fuck out bitch
Yea!

This The Mutha Fuckin’ Introduction!

It’s Meticulously Calculated
Mathematically Contemplated
Metronomically Calibrated
Musicians Collaborating
Movement Conspiration
Mental Confrontation
Media Creation
Momentous Celebration

These MCs bind me to the divine entity
That resides in me when I equip the M-I-C
This MC I see, is evolving in time to be
A problem for these other MCs, see
The MC I wanna be is like Em, see
One day I’ll get the feature then they’ll see
That I gave it all I had
Until the tank was empty
And took an extra victory lap
Just to let them see

Yo, they litter literature scriptures
With lackluster literacy
I sprinkle legitimately legendary
Literary devices
Mixed with the secret herbs and spices
The moment I rise
Crack open my eyes and write this
I’m literally lit early
Lit the blunt, inhale and exhale swirly
I was meant for this surely
This literalism is lit, isn’t it?
At least a little bit of it
I say it with a grin cause the kid gotta kid
Oh wa-wa-wa-wait
The kid don’t got a kid
The kid don’t need a kid
The kid’s just a kid, but shit
Knew the kid had talent
Never knew he could spit
I ain’t talking saliva
Are you surprised, huh?
With an attitude like his, so obnoxious
Now the gas is leaking
And the fumes are noxious
Highly toxic, stomach nauseous
From popping off cause
It’s so God damn obvious
There ain’t no option other than to opt in
To the optimist, in his prime
Like 31 and Optimus
And all the hits I’m dropping since
It’s hot like lava
Drippity drops accumulating
Into mountainous spots
Just wait till my music matures
The volcano forms
And I finally blow my top
Say all the shit that
I’ve been dying to say
But haven’t found the picture perfect way

It’s Meticulously Calculated
Mathematically Contemplated
Metronomically Calibrated
Musicians Collaborating
Movement Conspiration
Mental Confrontation
Media Creation
Momentous Celebration

These MCs bind me to the divine entity
That resides in me when I equip the M-I-C
This MC I see, is evolving in time to be
A problem for these other MCs, see
The MC I wanna be is like Mos Def-initely
One day I’ll get the feature
That’ll let ‘em see
That I gave it all I had
Until the tank was empty
And kept going and going
The poet is flowing, the Moet is po’ing
You know what’s up

Yo shit’s weak like you donated plasma
Got plastered and then passed out
I’ll scatter your molecules
Like a molecular savage
You’ll need electromagnetism
Just to salvage
The protons and neutrons
That compose your stature
Setting supermassive, supernova standards
Supersonic solar flame
Rearrange your atoms
Have you reassimilating in another Era
An error? An era error? An era error!
Be prepared to reappear
Up in the dungeons
Where the dragons feed
Where fire breathing, mean mugging beasts
Will drag you by your feet diagonally
To the fiery demise
Of your destitute mortality
But not before the knight in shining armor
Can harm ya, not to alarm ya
He sharpened the scimitar
Just to carve you to shawarma
A medieval time rewinder
But let’s bring it back
Back to the days when I was hungry
But wait a minute..
I’ve always been hungry
I stay hungry

They compare me to the caterpillar
Not for the number one like Nickel Nine
Or the one pimped as a butterfly
But the one who climbed his way
To the highest pillar
And digested every loose leaf, tree
And These MCs
So I could wrap up in my chrysalis
And process these mantras
Incorporate these morals into my sonnets
Until I’ve metamorphosized
Into a rap moth prophet
With a stomach thrice the size
Imagine the size of my eyes
And my appetite, I
Don’t need an app to type this
No apple devices, I’m fly as hell
Aang and Appa type shit
Avatar airbending
In a solar powered sky ship
Up here, in the stratosphere
Where we can turn the stereo up a gear
Never fear, that them neighbors hear
And grill him cause my flavors seared
Dinner and a show? The stage is near
And this whole world is my theater
And y’all a bunch of actors and actresses
Now don’t get me wrong
I’m all about the theatrics
But this is not an act, bitch
You even know how to take action?
I’m proactive, actively professional
You sit by reacting, it’s chemical
And I’m just spouting facts bitch
You wanna step up to my faction?
Gonna get your ass whooped
A can of whoop ass cracked open
Now your ass is grass, the rash is bad
Go ask your dad to grab a pad
For your pussy, or is he too busy?
Of course he was
You thought he wouldn’t be?
It’s cause you’re ugly

About

Where it all began! This was the first track I wrote for “The Introduction”.

–

Lost in Thought – Dante

The Introduction

Released on: 05/26/2024

Written by Dante
Produced by GC
Recording Engineer: MC Sands

Listen on Spotify
Listen on YouTube
Listen on SoundCloud
Follow on Instagram: @yeah_that_dante

Lyrics

Maybe I’m tripping
Lately I’ve been thinking that I’m too tired of thinking
Was it me? Is it her? Does it matter?
Quit blaming yourself for everything you dimwit dickhead
See life is short, and it’s confusing
These scientists keep alluding
To everything that you’re viewing
Being due to an illusion
You better defuse it before you lose it, cuz

Do you know what you’re trying to be?
Or whatchu gotta prove but honestly
I know that there’s only one thing I can do
And that’s listen
Absolve any issue you tryna solve
Grab you a tissue if you gotta go sob
Or the clips and magazines if it’s time to go rob
I got racks stashed up back home with the mob
Only way to afford a fair share of the corn on the cob

All my people gotta eat
The fishing line, it ain’t even starting to bob
That’s fishy, why you lying?
Wasn’t honesty a moral taught to you by your mom
Lightin’ up the dab torch
Then it better be a glob
I’ve been studying
Young Sinatra Tag
The calculations seem off
Like God, what are the odds?
You try to take the log(I see)
Or spell it alphabetically
The L-O-G-I-C
But please don’t be mixing my up mans
With the program encrypted on the PC
Keep it PG, Logistically, I gotta see
Did they try to teach you the same things
That they tried to teach me?

What to look out for when a muhfugga tryna deceive
How to treat addiction like it was a disease
How to fight crime without killing the streets
Or how to give your heart up when you close your eyes and actually have to believe
I’m thinking factually
The best thing to do for the time being’s to
Back the fuck up and let the grind consume me
The automaton equivalent of a human being
Drained and relieved from the pain that I see
Day to day the daily rain can’t wash it away behind me
And save me from myself, from my baby
From what was, from what is, what possibly may be
From what I could have been
From what I’m tryna be

I’m blind to the idea she really feels this way realistically
Idealistically, I wouldn’t be stuck in this situation initially
Statistically, it was bound to end this way eventually
Perpetually, oceans of emotions approaching continuously
Coming over, close to comatose
From my head to the tips of the bones in my toes
I been losing sleep
Plus side, I’m infinitely woke

Every hour of the week
Got me weak in my soul, Like woah!
You already know how the story goes
You start to get old
Realize the story’s already been told
And time just holds us as a perspective for a
Temporary moment, temporarily awoken
Temporally floating down the river of time
Merrily, merrily
Until we all inevitably die
And life was but a dream, an incredible lie
Not a single credible piece of evidence for your life
In the blink of an eye gone, bye.
Vanished instantly from the reality surrounding me
S’where I pulled this personality I was proud to be
Till magically

My ego dissolved, No ID, No bars
No frivolous cars, and money and broads
All disappear without a second to pause
So please can you tell me
What the fuck is the problem
This ring in my temple is
Awful, unlawful, and awfully raw
I thought diamonds were made up of pressures this large
She thirsty like Dasani put salt in the water
Squirtle Squad, I waterfall ‘em
Raw dog her and foster her a daughter
Need an outlet? Hit the plug with the charges
Bad habits, you know I gotta catch all of ‘em
The boy’s a lost cause, don’t even bother

This just The Introduction
You ain’t seen nothing

Maybe I’m tripping
Maybe I’m
Maybe I’m
Maybe I’m
Maybe I’m

About

When Alec first sent me this beat, the file had exported with the default name “View”. We decided to roll with it. I started off by writing down three things and let the story unfold from there.

–

View – Dante

The Introduction

Released on: 05/26/2024

Written by Dante
Produced by Alec Brownell
Recording Engineer: Pedro Reyes

Listen on Spotify
Listen on YouTube
Listen on SoundCloud
Follow on Instagram: @yeah_that_dante

Lyrics

Penthouse, Red Blouse, Spare allowance
Whatchu wanna do tonight?
I make it rain, never change, cocaine?
Tryna get railed, you know I do it right
I ain’t talking trains or straight lanes, razor blades?
No, I’m talking you and I
Less you tryna get a train
Run up on that ass by me myself and I

Cause I’m a good looker
Good liquor? Good licker
Promise you ain’t ever come quicker
Baby girl
What I gotta do to get you to come back to my room
For a quick sip, A…
Tall glass of you
Chase it down with apple juice
Even though the only fruit I want
Comes between those two beautiful
Thangs you use to dance and move

Movement got you loose, juice is fluid
Got you lucid, how’s you doing?
Why don’t you two-step those cute legs
My way towards this dude, yes
It’s useless to refute this new acuteness
Feeling is mutual
Next thing you note
We’re in sync like a metronome
You look so alive
And I’m dying to let you know
I know I just met you though
My hands on her hips
And she licking her lips
And I’m thinking it’s time to go

So I take her hand
Sweep her off her feet
Elevator door
To the top penthouse suite
Know I got dough
She was raised in a bakery
Little honeybun
God she so damn sweet
Marble floors and shit
Gold embellishments
Goddess in the flesh
At the door chest to chest
Louis V wallet
Room key got diamonds
She twist on the handle
And we slide on in

The room tricked with red tint clap on lights
She looking rare, ready to entice
I reach for the remote device
Revolve a wall revealing a bed that was out of sight
Double California King in size
I’m talking two mattresses side by side
With enough room for her friends to slide
Now ain’t that exciting?
“Can I bring a friend?”
Well, of course you can
When she let her in
God damn, that’s your friend?
Shit…

But she new to this
It’s okay I’m patient
Caught her interest
Cause the fabric sueded
Fabricated for elation
Softer than piano statements
Waterproof lamination
Dip your toes in and get acclimated
A little heat exchanger experimentation
I lubricate ‘em with the salivation accumulation and the good vibrations
They as pink as the sand when I’m on vacation
Two against one, that’s fine I’ll accommodate ‘em
Now I got Bermuda babes triangulating
A Kama Sutra / Sex Lexicon demonstration
With the windows open
And the breeze is waving in
I can see the ocean
Exotic birds migrating in
Peaks and valleys exploration in the room
I promise you couldn’t even imagine the view

About

Tired of using “university”? Here’s 144 other ways you can count a fivelet.

–

Pent Up – Dante

The Introduction

Released on: 05/26/2024

Written by Dante

Instrumental: Flâneur (feat. Anomalie) – Plini

Listen on YouTube
Listen on SoundCloud
Follow on Instagram: @yeah_that_dante

Lyrics

You will never be
What I try to be
So I strive to be
All a guy could be
Look inside of me
See a prodigy
Check the prophecy
Found out it was me
Stained glass artistry
Depicted the scene
Lit up by sun beams
It was meant to be
Nostrodamus he
Knew that I would free
1998
Till Infinity
I remember when
I was growing up
Thinking all about
What was going on
Imagination
Creativity
Curiosity
Old philosophies
Life is but a dream
Skip stones in the stream
Negativity
Will not be allowed
Float up on a cloud
Never coming down
Up up and away
Find your happy place

When you wish upon a star
And wake up where the galaxies are
(That’s where you’ll find me)

Ego suspension
Astral projection
Cosmic reflection
The fifth dimension
Learned Lucy’s lessons
Good vibes dispenser
Put down aggressors
Goodbye my stressors
Keep away any
Sour energy
From my entity
Pucker up homie
I am what I am
You are my sunshine
Honey lemon drop
Electric sunrise

Ignorance is bliss
Happiest I’ve been
Living in the past
How long can that last?
Pushing till I break
How much can I take?
Counting up mistakes
Learning as they’re made
Failure’s how you grow
Show ‘em what you know
Teach ‘em the approach
Practice. Practice more
Perfect flowing slow
Lackadaisical
Speed up as you go
Till you run the show

Mind over matter
Manifestation
Climbing the ladder
Soul elevation
Teleportation
Wormhole in spacetime
Distant vacation
Hop in my spaceship
Elon Musk made it
Keep your Neurolink
Just because you can
Doesn’t mean you should
I just drank a fifth
Don’t dare me to drive
Think I might take five
Like Dave Brubeck’s jive
Ugh!

The five set me free

“I’m convinced
You can do anything with mind
You know, this is the…
Is the domain that builds starships”
…
“The imagination taken seriously as a force
Will transform the human world to beyond recognition”
-Terence McKenna

Heart of an angel
Mind of the devil
Root of all evil
Pull strings Geppetto
Can there be free will?
Where does it come from?
Where do we come from?
Human origins
Why are we alive?
Just to get on by?
Make and spend some dimes?
Fame and fortune, right?
Where did wonder go?
What happened to life?
Integrity died
Once upon a time…

The brain named the brain
Sanity’s insane
Where is consciousness?
What is sentience?
I believe to be
Foreign entities
This society
What a time to be
Stay in line blindly
Profit off the weak
No one turns a cheek
History repeats
Fed up with the feds
Seen my brothers dead
Bullet to the head
Said he was a threat?

We got so many
Bigger fish to fry
We’re on the same side
No need for divide
Two dots and a line
Sick of spoon fed lies
Maybe that’s why I’m
All Pent Up inside
Perspectives at large
Observers of law
Oddities and flaws
Dust among the stars
Infinite abyss
What lies past this glimpse?
Better hold on tight
Please don’t let your eyes
Fool your mind
Kick it back and fly
Celebrate tonight
Christmas in July
Studied all the greats
University
Acquired their taste
Spill the verse like tea
This boy’s bout to breach
Your top five this week
Next week hit the streets
Then its globally
Scanned the galaxies
Pinged no challengees
All accept defeat
That is all but me
D-A-N-T-E

About

A lyrical exercise to a drum set spree.

–

Independent – Dante

The Introduction

Released on: 05/26/2024

Written by Dante
Drums written and performed by Dante
Recording Engineer: Pedro Reyes

Listen on Spotify
Listen on YouTube
Listen on SoundCloud
Follow on Instagram: @yeah_that_dante

Lyrics

Independent
Like the Etsy jeweler selling
Indie pendants
With emerald rhinestones
In da pendant
Whether or not the style was
In depends that
The wave of trends stems from
In deep ends and
So it was written
In da pen that
All these good for nothing
Sin dependent, gin dependent
Living dependents
Finna end up
Within deepened dents
You in deep end it
Remember when you moved the wax
In da pen Dant?
Smokin’ dependent
Flow like you blowing o’s when you follow
In D’s pen dance
Maaaaaan!
Put it to an end D pin dat
And hit ‘em with the independence
Uhhh!

Hit’s them with the independence

About

Sometimes you don’t need a reason to celebrate!

–

Christmas in July – Dante

The Introduction

Released on: 05/26/2024

Written by Dante
Produced by GC
Recording Engineer: Pedro Reyes

Listen on Spotify
Listen on YouTube
Listen on SoundCloud
Follow on Instagram: @yeah_that_dante

Lyrics

Smoking so much fire it’s alarming
Weed whacking while I’m chronic farming
I’m the hurricane storming
The tornado without a warning
A young prince charming
Got all the Cinderellas swarming
Cause these honeys be like honey bees
‘Cept they’s flowers money trees
Honeys buzz in with the breeze
I just hope that Summer leaves
Before Autumn meets my sheets
Gets on her knees
Begs “Oh, yes please!”
I lick her slow, and lay her down
And make her bring that ass to me
And as for me, actually, that Ashley
Is looking like a snack to me
All these surreptitious little bitches is
Acting suspicious n’ looking delicious
I just want a little nibble of this
Something nutritious
The way I’m fittin’ in this
Is working out like fitness
‘Bout time the kid who freestyled
Took to the written business
These days I’ve been the busiest I won’t lie
Now I’m celebrating like it’s
Christmas in July

They say that I am gifted
Deep in my mind
I live in the present
The future’s in my sights
I look to the past
For a chance to realign
Learn from my mistakes
See the error of my ways

They say that I am gifted
Deep in my mind
I live in the present
The future’s in my sights
I look to the past
For a chance to realign
Now I’m celebrating like it’s
Christmas in July

You wanna try drugs, kid?
Stop! Don’t do it! Now’s your chance
Before you look back and blew it
Ladies and gents this is the moment
I would turn back
If humans had learned that
Traveling to the past complies
With the way spacetime was designed
And rewind back before I had ever
Tried any of these substances
Or done all of this dumb shit
That’s under the assumption
You could plug in different variables
And get the same solution to the function
That’s me
Wouldn’t give myself up for nothing
I remember

Layin’ out by the lake
Not a cloud in the sky
With my head in the clouds
Ain’t nothing blowing my high
The stars all start to align
I often wonder to myself
If that is all by design
I begin to make connections
Deep in my mind
Neurons getting grounded
Sparks start to fly
Something about this life
Just feels so divine
Divinity in tranquility
Searching ’round the vicinity
For new ways to piece the puzzle
Differently
And paint the picture vividly
It was written deep in history
When I dipped the quill in ink
To script this beat
That he’d live his best life
Now I’m celebrating like it’s
Christmas in July

They say that I am gifted
Deep in my mind
I live in the present
The future’s in my sights
I look to the past
For a chance to realign
Learn from my mistakes
See the error of my ways

They say that I am gifted
Deep in my mind
I live in the present
The future’s in my sights
I look to the past
For a chance to realign
Now I’m celebrating like it’s
Christmas in July

They say that I am gifted
Deep in my mind
I live in the present
The future’s in my sights
I look to the past
For a chance to realign
Learn from my mistakes
See the error of my ways

They say that I am gifted
Deep in my mind
I live in the present
The future’s in my sights
I look to the past
For a chance to realign
Now I’m celebrating like it’s
Christmas in July

About

They say you can’t truly play something fast if you can’t play it slow…

When I started writing these raps, I didn’t have any particular beat in mind. I was cycling through a few and came across this one and really liked it, but it was at a much higher tempo than I had planned for. I decided to go for it anyways and really lean into the idea. For practice, I would set the playback speed to 0.75x. One day I accidentally hit 0.5x right before the beat dropped and when it did it went unreasonably hard.

The rest is in the rear-view mirror.

–

Hit ‘N Run / Backed Over Slowly – Dante

The Introduction

Released on: 05/26/2024

Written by Dante
Produced by ThatKidGoran
Recording Engineer: Pedro Reyes

Listen on Spotify
Listen on YouTube
Listen on SoundCloud
Follow on Instagram: @yeah_that_dante

Lyrics

I’m gassed up
And we riding, riding
(Riding, riding)
Last up
We ‘bout it, ‘bout it
(‘Bout it, ‘bout it)
Leave ‘em ass up
We rowdy, rowdy
(Rowdy, rowdy)

Backed up in the corner
It’s my own doing
Saw the right angle
But couldn’t out the box’s influence
How many times you been here
You should be used to this
I’d give half my health
For a substitution
You knew it was coming
Instead of gunning
Got to running from your problems
Now life is flawed
Cause foresight saw your
Optics object
The reality you saw fit
Ahh shit!
Now boy you better tread with caution

Before you get lost in the sauce kid
Tug twice to get off the
Path most traveled by
You, yourself and I
A thousand times
Time and time again
Smile and pretend
Keep working to pay the rent
Not gonna lie, I’m convinced
Working for a living ain’t living
So I’mma keep giving what I gotta give
Till I make a killing or I’m killed
I ain’t kidding kid
New to the game
When I play I watch my influence
Now that they know the name
It’s time to hunt your constituents

No remnants
Not even a memory to reminisce
I promise you won’t be missed
Cause I’m positive you a pessimist
Pass the mist
You know? The sedative
One day I’mma smoke weed
As the mutha fuckin’ president
Well that’s not possible
If I don’t get on my shit
So peace!
You know I heard your bars
And they’re weak
Said you’re a rapper?
Well, where’s the tapes?

They can’t get tired of me
If I don’t sleep
Eyes red, I need the Visine
With or without THC in my bloodstream
His rhymes are so slanty
Dear Lord, I got one wish please grant me
A girl with soft panties
And no boundaries
Take what I want
She allowing me
Shit Pops,
Now are you proud of me?
This for all the times that they doubted me
Fuck the haters that doubted me

Well isn’t that some
Stock ass cliche rapper shit
With a little twist of
Some metric modulations
That they’d think was immaculate
They learning the words
Without even of thinking of the
Tiniest thoughts
That go into the simplest of verses
But that’s cool
Still rip it up, tear it up
Like it was back in high school
I spit so much gold
Midas well say I drool
I’m blessed with four sisters
You know girls rule
That’s why they call me “The Boy”
And the boy is mad

Lock me in the cage
The beast is deranged
My fevers enraged
I’m lighting ablaze
The Inferno’s engaged
That line is so lame…
He had to say it
I was paid to do it!
Shit was whack
Hack-spewing it
We’ll have to cut it
When we review it
Post processing
Hire Ped to fuse it
I am the greatest
Do not confuse it
I said…

My flow is substance
Don’t abuse it
Get ‘em used to good music
And you’ll never lose ‘em
The goose egg was golden
Seeing lucid he was chosen
The boys awoken, awakened?
But never mistaken

Misshapen mentalities
And faults of fatalities
Result in a reality
Like your palace of fallacies
Balance these
Chakras for spiritual remedies
You can act but can’t pretend the
Surrender gonna end the

Horrendous, relentless
Time bending, impending
Overlooming, thought-consuming
Human-dooming movement
To blooming tulips / fungi mushrooms
Producing worm food
Through life’s cyclical nature of new
Till then I’ll take that lil’ wifey of yours
And dick-wiggle her too
Finna make that ass work
Like the elliptical do
I laugh, you don’t
Yeah, I’m a cynical dude
Heard one track
Said the albums whack
You’re a synecdoche

“Okay, here we go.
Focus. Speed. I am speed”
…
“Faster than fast, quicker than quick.
I am Lightning.”

I’m quicker than a speed demon
On methamphetamine
With an IV drip adrenaline
Deemed a caffeine enema fiend
Slightly resembling
A string since I’m resonating
Velocities accelerating
Like a bullet train that’s levitating
Faster than a photon, wait how?
Breaking the simulation
Switch up the save state
NES emulation
Little unsettling
How everything Einstein had theorized and postulated
Is heavily weighted, gravitated
On the basis no one else can even contemplate it

Especially relating how relativity
Relatively unravels when you fathom
That I outrun the very fabric and foundation of modern physics
Reciting these lines in your Honda Civic
I’m on a mission to put all these mumble rappers in a submission
And all the living gods in a position
To possess the need to feature me on their
Next rendition of first edition divine composition
Bitch!

Gimme a shimmy
To sprinkle these jimmies
And jingle a hippie
To twist it up swiftly
Then rip it up quickly
Now spark up the chimney
You blink and you’d miss me
These rappers is history
I’m lightning McKing, see

“Kerchang”

That’s the lightning M-C King
Got ‘em speaking
In temp-seaking
Sonar beacon
Satellite laser beams
And death ray machines
With capabilities
Of destroying societies

Call me Godzilla
The quad killa
Not a villain illa
Your filling vanilla
I’m the golden and delicious
Butter pecan Puerto Rican
You been seaking sorta fella
Ain’t no telling the felonious
Armageddon mess
Degenerates be getting us in
Its unprecedented
Fuck the president
And all the white house residents
You say you’re representatives
Of the free people
But you’re biggest detriments a feeble ego
I’m bout to ctrl alt delete those
Old ass, mold ass growing holdbacks
To the world I’ve been dreaming of like
God damn!
I don’t really understand
Is it really that hard
To WANT to be a good man?
Like where in the hell was all of your mommas
And while I’m on it

I’m sorry mom
For all the drama caused in college
I promise I didn’t mean to kamikaze that onto ya
I’ll make it up, honest
When I’m a scholar
With a billion dollars
You’ll be whipping that Denali
Over Chevy Impalas
Cause I’mma

Rhetoric veteran
Went to hell and let the devil live
Igniting accelerants
When I pedal to the metal
Meddling on this instrumental
This shit is mental
They quick to settle in front of televisions
I’m never settling in
I was raised to be a better man
They know I’m a gentleman
Its rose petal, love letters
And chivalry when I let her it
I’m the conversating
Stay up late with
Paradigm changing
Non-complacent
Rap arranger
Elevator?

Going up! Escalating
To tempos defined as fascinating
Concentrating, my mental is juiced
Capacitance is past amazing
Excavating every bit of soul of mine
To pass to Satan
Liquidating my spirit for unbound talent seems like a fair exchange
And I don’t think I’ll ever run out
Don’t gotta check a gauge
As long as I keep running my mouth
Then Lucifer is paid
They say don’t make a deal with the devil
No way to rebel
Let me tell you, not to revel
That’s the best damn deal I’ve ever made

I’m always coming in clutch
But never taking a break
Grip the crutch
Now I’m smoking like a paper ashtray
I can’t stop, won’t stop
Chili Peppers would say I’m hot
You looking like you need a pit stop
You can’t keep up
So when I’m revving my engine
At the 7-11 intersection
And you get to questioning
Why I’m sitting idle in the dark
Tell me this…
Why the fuck would I need headlights
When the track is always lit?

This is absurd!

I’m gassed up
And we riding, riding
(Riding, riding)
Last up
We ‘bout it, ‘bout it
(‘Bout it, ‘bout it)
Leave ‘em ass up
We rowdy, rowdy
(Rowdy, rowdy)

Before you get lost in the sauce kid
Tug twice to get off the
Path most traveled by
You, yourself and I
A thousand times
Time and time again
Smile and pretend
Keep working to pay the rent
Not gonna lie, I’m convinced
Working for a living ain’t living
So I’mma keep giving what I gotta give
Until I make a killing or I’m killed
I ain’t kidding kid
New to the game
When I play I watch my influence
Now that they know the name
It’s time to hunt your constituents

My flow is substance
Don’t abuse it
Get ‘em used to good music
And you’ll never lose ‘em
The goose egg was golden
Seeing lucid he was chosen
The boys awoken, awakened?
But never mistaken

What’s wrong?
I thought you wanted me to slow down?
You said I was going too fast?
Isn’t this what you wanted?
Muahahahahaha!

Kerchang

That’s the lightning M-C King
Got ‘em speaking
In temp-seaking
Sonar beacon
Satellite laser beams
And death ray machines
With capabilities
Of destroying societies

Half time?
Double time?
No time?
I own time
Let me tell you one thing about time
It keeps ticking
Well I don’t
I got a freeze ray
That thing go burr
Brrr!
Alright…
This track’s like twelve minutes…
We gotta get outta here…
…
Ahhh!

About

YEAAAAH! YEAAAAH! YEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAH!
YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!

–

Gemini – Dante

The Introduction

Released on: 05/26/2024

Written by Dante
Recording Engineer: Pedro Reyes

Instrumental: Seeing Green (with Drake & Lil Wayne) – Nicki Minaj

Listen on YouTube
Listen on SoundCloud
Follow on Instagram: @yeah_that_dante

Lyrics

Yo, we flying high with this one
Much higher than they can jump to conclusions
You know what I’m saying?
You are now tuned in
To “The Introduction”
A scrumpdiddlyumptious dirty dozen
Way too hot for touching

I got this tramp on lean
Doing backflips on my mattress
Two monkeys jumping on the bed type of action
Slap her, in her fatness
Ripple back, reaction
Nipple grab, her ass bent
Hit it like a wax pen in Aspen
They’ve been asking him
“Yo, what’s happening?
When you gon’ go platinum?”
Now I ain’t Shady, but guess who’s back again
I’m bashin’ in
Heads like that monkey lost her balance
It’s bananas, man
Ain’t nobody going hand to hand

That’s a punchline only drumlines would understand
I’m a Gemini, think my second mind got the upper hand
My girl dumb fine, we unwind in foreign lands
Sipping plum wine, in the sunshine
On the golden sands of Nassau
Grab your passport
I’m ‘bout to 3-2-1 blastoff, like NASA
I been working my ass off
Juggling
Everything and then some
You been dropping glass balls
Onto asphalt and tryna pass it off
Like it ain’t your ass’s fault

That they shattering
I took the ladder out to Saturn’s rings
I can’t hear ‘em chit-chattering
It don’t matter, I’d only get madder
They’d rather blabber unflattering things
I bet their shatter splatters
Like their dabber’s slathered
With reclaim battle patterns
I’mma…

Get the gas lit, flabbergasted
Mr. Fantastic, flavor blasted
From the slab to the glass rig
Type of mix mastering rapper king
No matter the gathering
I have to bring everything
So when this batter swings
I batter things
Like beer battered onion rings
Uhhh!

That’s a grand slam like the entrée at Denny’s
I remember a young Dante back before his twenties
Back in my hood
Packed in the back of the woods
Backpack stacked with a pack of backwoods
Back when we’d flip it
Faster than the master of a spatula would
Hash slinging slasher immaculate good
Past the path where we used to stash the ash wood
Where my wifey stepped on a knife
And it passed through her foot
Ran her ass outta there
Faster than that bastard Dracula could
What a disaster!
And she couldn’t get past the fact
My passenger mat
Was left with a mad splat of blood

I scooped her up
Carried her out of the woods
Threw her in the passenger seat
Sped off to her house
Kicked down the door like
“WE GOTTA GO!!!”
Raced off to the hospital for them to be like
“Sure, have a seat in our lobby”

In college I prolly
Studied the rap game
More than my girl studied psychology
She got her degree and then promptly
Diagnosed me as a prodigy
The way I spit unwrittens
Like a self fulfilling prophecy
Coulda possibly changed my major
If looking back was in my policy
But honestly?

It’s all the same neighbor
I’ll still make a wager
To say they’ll frame my labor
In all the books on philosophy
I gots to be, the coldest
Subzero, the most chilly
I swear there’s snow one as ill as me
That’s a free-zing, you feeling me?
Who else got the ability
To spit these soliloquies as sillily
The villain instilled this skill in me
Honor roll without ever
Popping a pill of these
Will you please fill in these
Inbetweens with calligraphies
Catch me at De Guzman’s
They filling me like the Philippines
Shit, you gotta be kidding me!
Uhhh!

I’m flowing like a float chair
Full of the most air
Off the Arctic coast where
I built my GOAT lair, to go there
You’d pay a hefty boat fare
But if you don’t care
You best bring the paraphernalia smokeware
I’m one with the stoned glare
No Medusa rope hair
Don’tcha dare reappear
On my front stair with all that snow
I ain’t no Cola bear, you hear?
But…

I’m too cold like the blizzard
Not the snowstorm, the dessert
Ice cream bars till my lips hurt
Concrete skills with the mixer
Bitch, you best mind your bizzurp
Before I skip the diss verse
Lean in fist first and split your lid worse
Than immiscible mixtures
You call that an idea?
I’m the mother fucking light fixture
Strike the amygdala
I’m the cortisol spike fear brings
Call me tinnitus
I shine just like my earrings

About

Yo, chill. It’s not that serious.

“These are just words to me, please do not murder me”

–

Get ‘Em D – Dante

The Introduction

Released on: 05/26/2024

Written by Dante

Instrumental: 36 Chamber Flow (Produced by Erick Arc Elliot) – Flatbush Zombies

Listen on YouTube
Listen on SoundCloud
Follow on Instagram: @yeah_that_dante

Lyrics

Rolling with this mama Molly
Someone walk up touch her body
I wild out and pull the shotty
Get ‘em D and aim
Take her hand, flee to the streets
So quickly no one coulda seen
With sirens at the scene it’s time to
Give her DNA
Lay her down slow, heart racing
Licking all her flavorite places
This bomb dick is detonating
Give her D and Aim
Snap a pic she don’t want her ex to see
I think “let him” and slide in the rest of me
Looking like I slipped her ecstacy
Get MDMA

Mind missteppin’
One day I’ll learn my lesson
Bout buying and possessing
All these rocks up in my dresser
With glocks to address ya
Answering any questions
With violence, eerie silence
Since ya tongue was sliced and diced into
Bonitas cubitas de lengua
You gon’ learn to watch what you say now?
I been stalking your shadow all day now
Honestly, I’m toying witcha
Ya just a game now
Checkmate
I’ve tapped into your brainwaves
Recorded how you behave
And I’ll say, I’m a little ashamed
You a simpleton
A waste of time and space, but that’s okay
Cause there’s gotta be people like you
For there to be people like me

Better Off Dead track triple six, I’m homicidal
Ran out of dishes, so I ripped the skull right out your spinal

I’m evolving
I can feel it in my bones, Jones
Who passed me down the moon stone
Then got me super-duper stoned

Better Off Dead track triple six, I’m homicidal
Ran out of dishes, so I ripped the skull right out your spinal
Smoking exotic piff, with an exotic bitch
Eyes low, chronic spliff
Pussy wet, watch it drip

I’m evolving
I can feel it in my bones, Jones
Who passed me down the moon stone
Then got me super-duper stoned

Ayy, and what the fuck is this bitch thinking?
Don’t Molly know I’ll end up getting too big for her britches
Stretch her legs over her head
Split her in half, she need stitches
Give her a little nibble on her ear
Neck kisses
And I ain’t finished till she finished
The type of talk
That get ya mistas distressed
Mistress, Mistress!
The more I say, the more she distance
Herself from you
You bitch ass little piss ant

“I don’t know why anybody wanna come and get it from Dante!”

About

For Educational Purposes Only

This song should serve as a case study for “The Approach”.
I truly believe that if you take this level of preparation and attention to detail and apply it to whatever it is you are trying to do, you will have a much higher chance of success.

–

The Blunt Rap – Dante

The Introduction

Released on: 05/26/2024

Written by Dante
Produced by LethalNeedle
Recording Engineer: Pedro Reyes

Listen on Spotify
Listen on YouTube
Listen on SoundCloud
Follow on Instagram: @yeah_that_dante

Lyrics

Smoke a blunt with us
Smoke a blunt with us
This The Blunt Rap
I just wanna smoke blunts witcha
With me and Dante

It’s The Blunt Rap
Rapping ‘bout rolling blunts
It’s The Blunt Rap
Rapping ‘bout rolling blunts
It’s The Blunt Rap
Rapping ‘bout rolling blunts
It’s The Blunt Rap
Let me show y’all something

Today’s the day we take it frame by frame
And break down Mary Jane while I explain
A painless way to tame a Game
Or educate a sister
On how to twist a Swisher
Like the liquor mixture elixir
Just listen up to this mister, since uh…
I remember back when we would
Rap in the back of the woods
About rapping Backwoods
Back when we couldn’t rap no good
Now I’m literally the blunt rapper
None faster, Follow the Dutch Master
Or have an ass backwards disaster
He twist Optimo, an optimal option, yo!
My pref’s High Hemp, less stress to ingest
But if I disembowel a pineapple White Owl
It’s the spine I pull to split it
If I didn’t stick to zigging with a bag of Zags
Razzmatazz royalty, King Palm massage
The Entourage will oil me
Hand me the foil please
Take your time, no need for stressing
Once you’ve made your selection
Breathe a deep breath in

Step one in this lesson’s
Get to undressing your specimen
Commence the inspection for imperfections
Pay attention, take no exceptions
Or face the consequences
Detect a defect, reject it
I expect you to check the second, brethren
With all this weed to smoke
You got to have quality control
What most folks probably don’t know
It’s all about the approach
Conceptualize your role
In actualizing your goals
In order to neutralize
All of the bumps in the road
Without ever paying the toll

Now for the formidable riddle of splitting the cigarillo
Natural tobacco leaves actually unravel at the seams
It’s simple
Your typical ‘rillo’s only a little bit more difficult
It’s critical to be nimble
If it’s brittle, your shit’ll be pitiful
Keep a fresh pack, or remember to re-seal
The packaging of the original
This information’s pivotal
We hand out fliers at the end of this clinical
I’d upload my muscle memory
And give it all if it were digital
Alas, this media’s physical
You need to be analytical

Hand placement is crucial
My people peep the technique
Make two okay signs, homie it’s all fine
Squeeze the gar inbetween
While your thumbs work
Let the indexes support like a beam
Apply even pressure to the center of the edge evenly
When it starts to split, a little slit’ll do
Not so fast, bold and brash
Maneuver down the shaft
Maintain a straight-line path
Stem in the wrap?
Slow down to it and rip slow through it to pass
But once you’ve split the blunt
Spill its guts, it’s time to fill it up cause it’s…

So much grams
Unzip the bag
Dip in my hand
And then I Palm Trees
Before you shred it up
Like the parmesan cheese
A playa needs to carefully
Pick out the stems and the seeds
I’m fine and dandy
With my handy dandy phalanges
Others find a grinder
Tryna granulize they weed
Before you pack it, lick the wrap
Ensuring that it bends with ease
Grab the rest of these ingredients
Let’s complete the recipe
Ayyy!

This the part
Where you lay her down real slow
Tuck her in night, night
What’s the deal dough?
Not too tight
No, you wanna let it breathe bro!
Tuck and roll
Tuck and roll up that weed yo
The lower lip’ll slip
Between the brown and green, Roll!
End to end or all at once
If you’re a real pro
Lick the blunt along the seam
Until it’s sealed closed!
Flick your Bic, and rip a hit
And get real stoned

That’s how you roll a blunt
That’s how you roll a blunt
He smokes the most blunts in the area!
That’s how you roll a blunt
That’s how you roll a blunt
Word to Weezy got my PhD in THC
That’s how you roll a blunt
That’s how you roll a blunt
You gotta get high to know what’s up
That’s blunt guidance!
That’s how you roll a blunt
That’s how you roll a blunt
It’s Bluntology
The study of Blunt roll

“Come on, you know?
I Blunt roll, You blunt roll
He, she, me blunt roll
Blunt roll? Blunt rolling?
We’ll have thee Blunt Roll?
Blunt roll-Rama?
Bluntology?
The study of blunt roll?”

About

I genuinely can’t believe we made this song. I want to thank everyone that helped make this track what it is today from the bottom of my heart. The tiny seed we planted has blossomed into a big beautiful pot tree. This will always be my favorite song!

Smoking Blunts with God – Dante

The Introduction

Released on: 05/26/2024

Lyrics by Dante
Vocals: Dante
Vocals: MC Sands
Vocals: Pedro Reyes
Drums: Dante
Drums: Alec Brownell
Bass: Dante
Bass: Alec Brownell
Guitar: Alex Schultheis
Keys: Dante
Talkbox: Dante
Recording Engineer: Pedro Reyes
Recording Engineer: Alex Schultheis
Mixing Engineer: Alex Schultheis

Listen on Spotify
Listen on YouTube
Listen on SoundCloud
Follow on Instagram: @yeah_that_dante

Lyrics

If Sunday is the day of the lord, then
Saturday must be the night of God, so we
Gather round for a good ol’ time, we gon’
Roll one up and get real high, we’re…

Smoking Blunts with God!
Gotta do it the lord’s way!
(You gotta do it, you gotta do it)
Yeeeaaaaaaaaah!
(You gotta do it, We doin’ it the Lord’s way!)
Smoking Blunts With God!
Only rolling up God’s way!
(You gotta do it, you gotta do it)
Yeeeaaaaaaaaah!
(You gotta do it, We rolling up God’s way!)

I got this homie who stay lifted never lowly
So holy, The O-G, the G-O-D
Keeping it low key
Laying low wit’ yo halo
As we roll up chronic leaves
A few G’s of the fluffy stuff
You could never OD
One breath in I’m transcending to heaven
We gon’ puff puff first
Then I’ll pass it off second
Greeted at the pearly gates
By my white-bearded brethren
White robe, no socks
With the Bethlehem 7’s
They say God made me (Me!)
God made weed (Weed!)
God knows best
And that’s guaranteed (Guaranteed!)
So y’all can spark a joint up
With the anointed one
While I kick it back
Smoking Blunts with God

God,
Can you tell me why on your green Earth
We can’t smoke the weed
That grows out the dirt?
Well that’s absurd!
Oh, you ain’t heard?
They incarcerating folks across the nation
For partaking in the healing traits
Of smoking eighths of your divine creation
That’s an act of Satan!
That’s what we’ve all been saying!
My people been praying
With their knees to the pavement
Proclaiming “Amen!”
You need to save ‘em!
I think I need to do some explaining
See, if I were to intervene
Would free will really be free?
Yo, that’s deep
They’ve been wondering why you silent, G
Well, I’ve seen it all
And most certainly heard enough
So y’all can hit the dial tone
While kick back and hit this blunt
Aghhhh!

Don’t go into the light
But please pass me the lighter
So I can ignite with the father of Christ
And get higher and higher and higher
We breathe in! (Breathe in!)
We breathe out! (Breathe out!)
Well, God Damn!
Hey man! What the fuck!
Holy cow! I apologize,
I didn’t mean to say your name in vain
I just really love Mary
And I know you feel the same
Ayyyyyyy!

Like seed sown on good soil
The tree you saw which grew large and strong
(In the mini pot tree)
Was broken to pieces
(Thy blessed one)
Between dusk and dawn
(Who blesses our blunts, I pray for thee)
Then he rolled up the scroll
(To bless thy children, To bless our herb)
They dropped their nets, and they followed along
(On your holy seed, On this your Earth)
To burn in front of the inner sanctuary
(For these your children, Will we keep faith)
Gorilla fingers, the size of King Kong
(Will we keep blowing the smoke)
The smoke they saw revealed what had happened
(Will we be blessed, If thy might is divine)
And they were happy and calm
(Will we not falter)
Turn your ear to my words
(For this we pray, For this we pray)
Glory to God, he could do no wrong
(That one day)
It was written in the scriptures
(We smoke that blunt, with God!)
It was sang in them psalms
So when I’m called back to his kingdom and you’re missing my songs
Just play this when I’m gone and know I’m up there
Smoking Blunts with God

Smoking Blunts with…
Aghhhh!